Roque defends Duterte’s right to express his faith

After the President received numerous criticisms following his controversial statement about God and the Bible, the Palace defended him for his freedom of faith.

In an interview with GMA on Monday, June 25, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. emphasized this freedom of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

“Iyan po ay personal na paninindigan ng Pangulo. Alam ninyo iyong ating kalayaan ng malayang pananampalataya, kasama po iyan ‘yun sa wala kang paniniwalaan na pananamplataya (That is the personal conviction of the President. You know that we have the freedom to choose our faith, and that includes not having one),” he said.

“Tingin ko ang ating Pangulo ay merong personal na spirituwalidad, pero nasa sa kanya na iyan at hindi na kinakailangang bigyan ng interpretasyon (I think the President has his own personal spiritual belief and that is up to him, and it is not necessary to give it an interpretation),” Roque added.

Furthermore, the spokesperson explained that these declarations of Duterte may be coming from his alleged experience of being abused by a priest in his younger years.

“Ito ay isang isyu po na dapat talagang harapin din ng Simbahan at siguro po nagkataon lang na ang isang Presidente ngayon ang naging biktima (This is an issue that the Church really has to face and coincidentally, the President is a victim),” Roque said.

He then stressed that Duterte does not need to choose his words despite the criticisms since he is showing who he really is.

“Hindi naman niya itinago iyang ganyang mga legguwahe noong siya ay tumatakbo, alam natin lahat iyan, at siya ay hinalal ng taumbayan (He is not hiding the way he speaks when he was still running, we all know that, and the citizens still voted for him),” Roque said.

Duterte recently drew flak because of his speech on Friday when he questioned the Bible and the creation.

“Who is this stupid God? Estupido talaga itong p***** i** kung ganun (This m***** f****** God is really stupid). You created some—something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work,” he said.

“So tayo ngayon (now), all of us are born with an original sin… Was it the first kiss? What was the sin? Bakit (Why) original? Nasa womb ka pa, may kasalanan ka na (You are still in the womb and you already have a sin),” he added.